2024 Number 4: Beardfish

Gemma's Top 10 Albums of 2024: Number 4
Beardfish - Songs For Beating Hearts

Comeback albums. They always do well on this blog.

I followed Beardfish during their initial run of albums, since the Sleeping in Traffic days. They were always a promising band… but I never felt they completely lived up to that promise. All of their albums – and they had plenty – seemed to fall just short of the major league to me, although Mammoth and Comfortzone got pretty close. There was something that wasn’t quite there. Great, energetic prog songs always sat alongside meandering pieces, grungy bits that were too gnarly for comfort, or things that felt a bit clunky or overwritten.

There was also a comedy aspect to Beardfish. The humour was often compared to Zappa (some songs even shout him out) but that comparison never really rung true for me. There was a menace about Zappa, kind of a mean streak perhaps, while Rikard Sjöblom (to his credit) is a cuddly teddy bear. There was never that nasty edge to him.

By the time Beardfish broke up, Sjöblom had already joined Big Big Train, most definitely a major league prog band, and he otherwise occupied himself with his Gungfly project. Did he still need Beardfish in his life? Did we, for that matter?

Well, here’s the proof of the pudding. Songs for Beating Hearts might be Beardfish’ best album yet. It's certainly their most consistent. Biggest change? They yeeted the overt attempts at comedy. Maybe the fans won’t like that but honestly, it’s about time this band stopped hiding behind the funny and start playing with conviction. But there’s still plenty of energy, warmth and joy to be found here.

The strong opening song, the mighty centerpiece epic, the heart-wrenching ballad and the powerful closer, all is present and accounted for. It's played with emotion and that playful edge that Beardfish is known for. Whether or not we needed them back, it's good to have them back.

Also, if I had a nickel for every song called "Oblivion" with Rikard Sjöblom on it that came out in 2024, I'd have two nickels. Which is not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.